DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU CANNOT HANDLE GORE AND/OR CHARACTER DEATH AND MURDER. Don't know what gore is? Then you probably won't be able to handle this. Please, go somewhere else. I have warned you, I don't want anyone crying to me that I'm messed up. If you can't handle horror movies, or gore movies like Saw, then this isn't the fic for you. Go back to you fluff bunny-filled lives and leave this fic be.

This was inspired by three things: An AMV by the great syllver77 on YouTube called Dream or Reality, the lyrics to the song Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday, and Halloween. If you have then time, please go and check the first two out. They have a great vibe for the third thing :) Which is today.

I don't want to go over the warnings again...

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor do I claim the song and AMV listed above to be mine. I'm a poor, poor helpless fangirl that has no shame(or a real life).

Figment

Sasuke felt the cold air of the forest nip and tug at his skin; his jonin clothes rippled in the wind. The speed he was going at made his hair whip almost painfully at his face, causing him to lose some of his concentration as he winced from the sting. His feet made light contact with the branches of the trees as he danced across them skillfully in the night, the moon as his only guidance as he shifted his way through the dense woods. In the distance, he could hear the shouts and rumblings of battle, but somehow he couldn't pinpoint the exact location.

Sounds of small crickets and other night creatures in the forest filled his ears as he ran. It was a wonder to him how he could hear everything so clearly, but he blamed it on his sharp hearing skills. Other than that, he could only concentrate on where he was going; the sounds were directing him blindly, but still giving him some initiative to what direction he should go to. The moon was yellow in the sky, only giving dim light as he ran.

A yell rang in his ears.

"Sasuke!"

At the call of his name the man stopped abruptly. His hair still whipped at his face from the wind, but it was less distracting. The screech halted his brain from working as he stared into the wooded hollow. It wasn't who, or what the person was speaking to; the way it was said--no, screamed that made him stop and almost fall off the tree he stood in.

He heard it again, but it was slightly gurgled and torn apart--much like what he imagined the person making it was being objected to. The sound of the person's voice made bile rise in his throat. He had heard sounds like these--terrible sounds, life altering sounds that would make him scarred for the rest of his life--at Orochimaru's many hideouts. Of people being massacred, begging for their life, screaming in agony as they tried in vain to get away.

He swallowed thickly as pure panic gripped at his heart. It bowled him over and he had to find purchase on the trunk of the tree to keep upright.

"Sasukeee!"

Again, the end was gargled and more pained. Only pure suffering could make this sound; this agony; this horrific sound. Sasuke could tell by the hoarseness in the tone that the person had already been screaming for a while now--it was just that he wasn't in hearing distance, or maybe perhaps it was just that this person had never screamed as such in its life. Maybe the pain the person was going through was just that excruciating.

It was then that Sasuke was able to identify the person; Sakura! his mind screeched at him to move as realization hit him like a sharp kunai.

Sasuke bolted and ran to where the noise had come from. He hoped that he wasn't too late, and that in his stupor his friend had not been killed already.

Puffs of exhales left his mouth and became visible in the wintry air. He urged his body to move faster; go farther; harder and a hell of a lot more accurate than what it was being right now. He fell only once, getting back up right away. His head was bleeding now from the impact of falling on a rock surface, but he didn't care. He needed to get there!

The smell of smoke met his nose, putrid and burning. He ignored the tears that welled up in his eyes from the burning and kept on going, brushing past some brambles in his haste to make it to the black clearing just within his sight. Soot covered everything and sullied his clothes, the roaring of fire rumbled in his ears.

"Sakura!"

He made no effort in masking the concern and pain in his voice. He convinced himself that the tears were from the acidic smog surrounding him, there to ease the burn. Was it that he was just more sensitive since coming back to his home? Or that the tortured screams he had always heard before were never someone he knew--someone he cared about.

There came no response to his call, making him more disheveled than he already was. Sasuke looked around frantically, searching for his friends. "Naruto? Naruto!" he screamed out for them.

He tried to let himself become reliant on the fact that Naruto would never let anything happen to Sakura, even at the cost of his life. If anything, Sasuke should be able to think that and be able to know that it would always be true. Nothing would stop Naruto from saving his friends. He would do anything--anything to make sure that Sakura was safe and nothing happened to her.

The thoughts ran into each other as Sasuke searched. A thick wall blocked him from any coherent thoughts. He ran as though the devil were at his heels, mocking him for being too late; for letting his friends suffer.

The orange flames licked at his heels as he ran through the haze. Using the sleeve of his shirt to filter the air, he looked around for any sign of life. A cough left him the same time he felt his head spin from lack of oxygen. There was no time left, he needed to find them now.

Another turn and he saw movement. Sasuke tried not to trip over the fallen branches and debris as he made his way over to it. A wall of fire blared up as a tree fell in his path, the crackling of the fire was the only sound there was along with the whapping of the flames, the heavy breathing that had oh so suddenly begun to make way into his mind.

"Sasuke," a heavy hiss breathed from the other side of a high wall of blaze.

The one addressed turned without thinking about it. Jumping through the inferno, protecting his face with his arms, he bounded toward the growled version of his name. "Naruto!"

And just like that, after his breathless run for his friends' lives, he stopped again for the second time that night. An almost eerie silence filled the entire area as he gazed, open mouthed, at what was displayed in front of him. His coal eyes, flames flickering across the shiny film covering, bugged out almost frighteningly. His body froze stiff and grew uncomfortably warmer, but that was the very least of his worries. Horror, shock, and fright took over his mind. His stomach was curdling in a tight knot, making him fist his fist into it.

A drop of blood oozed down from a white tooth. Sasuke's eyes watched it drip down, down, down, slowly and unfazed as it splashed lightly on a patch of pale, once rosy skin. He almost noticed that it was the only small area of skin left, the rest having been dyed with blood and ripped off long before he arrived, but his mind would not think. The bits and pieces that transferred from his vision to his brain quickly left as scene after scene played by. Nothing was staying put and letting him dwell on that fact that; yes, this was happening, truly and surely, and that--that--

--Naruto was the one doing it.

"Ah--"

Words; sentences; thoughts would not branch out from the recesses of his mind and onto his tongue. What would let itself happen was the scream he let loose when he saw a bit of flesh fall from the inside of his blond friend's mouth and onto Sakura's dead, and shredded, bloody body. The pink hair lying around in the dirt was a sure sign of the body's identity.

The demon licked its lips, grinned, and tilted his head at Sasuke as the scream tore from his throat. The man fell to his knees and clutched his head in pain, pulling at the midnight locks. He noticed that sharp, demon-like claws were gripping into the body's form, blood gushing from the punctures and pressure.

"Na--Na..."

Unfortunately, Sakura's body was still in his eyesight and his eyelids refused to blink for him.

He couldn't help but watch as Naruto's head dipped again and sunk his fangs into the last remaining skin of the corpse. The flesh dipped with the impression of the pointed teeth, and with almost no resistance at all slid off of red muscles and into the beast's awaiting mouth. A wet mouth chewed, sucked, and then finally swallowed the hunk of meat after much time passed of savoring the taste of the chewy substance.

Sasuke hunched over and threw up, unable to do anything more.

And what was worse, Sasuke knew what had transpired here. He knew it from the time he had heard that awful screech in the middle of the forest; smelled the rancid smell of burning flesh; seen the way Sakura's body had been eaten and torn apart.

When this happened to his friend -- it was done when she was alive.

Sasuke screamed.

---

A soft bed, a warm light, and the faint glow of the waning moon through an open window.

Sasuke looked around, slightly panicked, as his hands pulled at his head and tears leaked down his face. Some warm drool leaked out from the corner of his mouth and leaked down his chin, but he paid it no mind as he tried to gulp in large portions of air.

Soon, he realized where he was, what the case was, and that he had no need to worry. A long sigh left him and his heart slowed down a great deal, allowing him to breath once more.

It was... a dream. Just a dream...

He shook his head and listened to the rustle of sheets next to him as his lover woke.

"Sasuke? What's wrong?" a worried voice asked him in the dark.

"It was just a nightmare..." he mumbled back, voice gruff and filled with strain. "I'll be fine in a minute."

He felt a warm arm wrap around his waist and spoon his side. Hot breath fanned across his neck and he sighed again, thankful for the warmth and comfort, but still feeling that it was suffocating at the same time. At almost the exact moment he though this the arm loosened and he hummed a thank you. His lover knew him all too well.

"I don't think I'll be able to get to sleep after that..." he whispered. It was more to himself but he knew that the other would understand and maybe just leave him be to sleep. He didn't like to cuddle.

Instead, the arms tightened around himself almost overpoweringly so, sharp nails dug into his flesh and caused blood to ooze out. He cringed and tried to pry away, but was frozen by the words breathed into his ear and spoken softly and disgustingly sweet, almost like a thought ringing in his mind rather than a single line coming from his lover's mouth.

"Go to sleep Sasuke... you'll wake up soon."

---

Feel free to interpret this any way you wish. Once again, if you flame I will report you or simply ignore you and let you be a child. I will not tolerate any bashing whatsoever on Sakura--this was not meant to be cruel to her.

Besides that, I love reviews. Thank you very much for reading :) Happy Halloween!